


the land that you roam in times gone and far

by PrinceofHellebore (PrinceofPlants)



Series: PoH’s Aroaceing the Line 2021 [3]
Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Ancient Rome, Grief, Grizzop is remembered, Post-Rome Arc (Rusty Quill Gaming), Remembrance, not resolved, undefined relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29689911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinceofPlants/pseuds/PrinceofHellebore
Summary: Sasha hadn’t marked the day but she knew it was spring, early spring, when Rome had fallen.  There wasn’t an annual date to honor her friends, to remember them, and to think ahead for the lives she hopes they will get to live so far in the future, but somehow she always picked a full moon to look for solace and remembrance.
Relationships: Cicero & Sasha Racket, Grizzop drik Acht Amsterdam & Sasha Racket
Series: PoH’s Aroaceing the Line 2021 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2179524
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18
Collections: AroAceing the Line





	the land that you roam in times gone and far

**Author's Note:**

> Aroaceing the Line - Day 3  
> Prompts: **Relationship** \- Single - Dancing - Pale Green
> 
> Title from _All That You Are_ by Solid Audioworks for "Lost Ember"
> 
> This one was harder to write, and doesn't have an explicit aro or ace reading. But I think of Sasha's relationship with Cicero as a QPR. 
> 
> This is a moment that's not resolved, it dwells on relationships cut short and unrealized.

Sasha left her home before the sun set. She was alone, an uncommon state and one that she did not seek out as often as before. She hiked up a hill, the tallest near the estate where she lived, and sat down at its crest. She watched as the sun sunk below the horizon, watched the colors change across the landscape from glittering gold to frosted blue. She then turned and waited and after a time the moon rose before her. It was bright and laced the world in silver, lit the night well enough for a hunt. 

Sasha hadn’t marked the day but she knew it was spring, early spring, when Rome had fallen. There wasn’t an annual date to honor her friends, to remember them, and to think ahead for the lives she hopes they will get to live so far in the future, but somehow she always picked a full moon to look for solace and remembrance. 

The moon was well up when she heard footsteps. Cicero sat down beside her. He’d grown old and stiff before her. She’d gotten slower, but was still limber enough to steal into a window if she liked. Cicero didn’t say anything. 

Sasha sighed, “it’s been twenty years. Grizzop would be so old now.” The realization that he could have lived a full life and died, tinged the grief she felt with a different kind of mourning. Cicero reached over and took her hand, picked it up and kissed the back of it, then just held onto it. It was the most intimate gesture that they ever shared. She squeezed her fingers to acknowledge it.

“Who was he.” Sasha glanced at Cicero and frowned, she had told enough stories about Grizzop and the others that he should know. “No, sorry, who’ve told me who he was, and what he did, but… you’ve never really said what he meant to you?" 

She hadn’t shared that, hadn’t known how. “I don’t know, I only knew him for…“ she choked on a laugh that was so close to being a sob, “a few weeks, I’d never thought about how short of a time that is… but he felt like someone I had known forever. I wanted to know him for my whole life. I had thought that I was going to get to.” Cicero returned the squeeze of her fingers. “He was a friend. We didn’t have time to figure out if there was something else there. I loved him, I think I’d have loved him in whatever manner he liked.” 

Sasha rubbed tears from her cheek and stood. “I’m going to go to the temple. I’ll probably walk back in the moonlight, back before dawn.” Cicero nodded. He unslung a satchel from his shoulder and passed it to her. She looked inside. There was food wrapped in wax cloth and candles, one for each member of the family she had lost, the three she could see were pink, purple, and green. She stepped forward and hugged Cicero in thanks and then turned and walked towards the nearest city, where the temple of Artemis would be crowded for the celebration of the celestial hunt. She could imagine Grizzop out there somewhere, stalking, quiver full of moonbeams, and wished that she could be walking with him instead of alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.
> 
> Love,  
> Prince of Hellebore


End file.
